1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content delivery system that delivers content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, techniques such as signboards, posters, bulletin boards, showcases, and the distribution of handbills or pamphlets have been used as methods of displaying information to the general public. However, where substances such as printed literature or exhibits are involved, it has been difficult to achieve a change to content in a short time. In order to solve this problem, it has been proposed to change signboards, posters, or bulletin boards throughout town for display apparatuses to display according to the advertisement technique used in broadcasting, and in these years a market which is collectively referred to by the term “digital signage” is beginning to be formed. By means of the digital signage, information display can be effectively performed in the form of a product advertisement, a notice, a news report, information delivery, publicity, or so on in commercial facilities, downtown, public institutions, or so on, where many and unspecified people are expected to come and go.
As to the way to update content, while with some products, content is rewritten manually with use of a USB memory or an SD card, products which can deal with delivery via a network for the purpose of labor saving and instant updating are coming out. Further, products have come out which utilize radio such as WiMAX or WLAN in order to reduce the cost of laying network lines or relocating a network when changing layout (Non Patent Literature 1: Digital Signage White Paper 2011 by Digital Signage Consortium, Jun. 8, 2011, First Edition). Meanwhile, as to the radio technology, as a technology for extending communication distance to improve usability, multi-hop communication technology wherein terminals themselves perform relay, represented by ZigBee (registered trademark) or the like, has been being put into practical use.
For example, where digital signage terminals are installed in sales space in retail stores to perform advertisement, in order to use WLAN technology wherein terminals directly connect to a content delivery server that is an access point, digital signage terminals need to be installed within the communication range of the content delivery server. Accordingly, by combining it with the multi-hop communication technology, installation in places where direct connection cannot be made is enabled, and merits such as communication continuation due to path redundancy or the like can be enjoyed. By using this connection configuration to deliver content and schedule to be displayed to each digital signage terminal, the simplification of installation can be achieved.